Ask the Author: Dale Wiley
Answered Questions (5)
Dale Wiley
That's a good question. My mom is from Georgia, and I have family down there whom I'm very close with. The idea to write this book came in a single moment - when I was with my kids coming back from vacation, looking out the window at an old-style lamp that reminded me so much of Savannah - and the whole idea was set in a matter of minutes. But I've spent a lot of time down there, and maybe that distance made it a fun escape. My next novel - The Jefferson Bible - will be set in Missouri.
Dale Wiley
My next novel, Sabotage, is theoretically done, and currently in the hands of someone whom I would love to publish it.
After that, I have two things going: One is a gothic-with-a-small-"g" story that can't be explained very far without many spoilers, but I love where it is.
I also have another "funny" idea involving aspiring Hollywood actors and the people who make the shows about conspiracy theories. I've kind of combined a couple of ideas and it's moving along pretty well.
There's also one idea lurking that I have written on, but would be best as a series. I'm trying to hold on to it for a development deal.
After that, I have two things going: One is a gothic-with-a-small-"g" story that can't be explained very far without many spoilers, but I love where it is.
I also have another "funny" idea involving aspiring Hollywood actors and the people who make the shows about conspiracy theories. I've kind of combined a couple of ideas and it's moving along pretty well.
There's also one idea lurking that I have written on, but would be best as a series. I'm trying to hold on to it for a development deal.
Dale Wiley
Does "aspiring" mean young? Probably not, but I guess I think of myself way back there. I am amazed at how much I wrote when I was younger. I didn't write near as much as some of my friends did, like my college friend Barry L. Levy, who has written a couple of Hollywood movies. Barry was a machine. He wrote screenplays and plays and novels and short stories while we were in school together and put me to shame in terms of how much he could write. But I guess it pays off.
Of course, kids and jobs and life make it harder to find the time to write you once had. I think I do a much better job of putting that time to use now, I think I have more of a handle on the "real world" side of writing now -- I think at times when I was younger I thought writing was some sort of "inspirational" exercise instead of the craft that it is -- but I would love to have that time back, when there was so much time to do what you love.
Of course, kids and jobs and life make it harder to find the time to write you once had. I think I do a much better job of putting that time to use now, I think I have more of a handle on the "real world" side of writing now -- I think at times when I was younger I thought writing was some sort of "inspirational" exercise instead of the craft that it is -- but I would love to have that time back, when there was so much time to do what you love.
Dale Wiley
The ability to carry the day through the written word! I love being able to make something appear that means something to people, and knowing that no matter how it goes in "real life," you get the final revision on the printed page.
I've written all kinds of different things, from newspaper articles to books to even a history of The Muny in St. Louis when they turned 75. It's interesting to see when people make a point of reminding you of something you wrote that meant something to them. If you can continue to be vital to someone else's life, long after the fact, that's extraordinary.
I've written all kinds of different things, from newspaper articles to books to even a history of The Muny in St. Louis when they turned 75. It's interesting to see when people make a point of reminding you of something you wrote that meant something to them. If you can continue to be vital to someone else's life, long after the fact, that's extraordinary.
Dale Wiley
The Intern came out of my realization that as much as I wanted to be a "Writer" in the sense of Hemingway or Fitzgerald, what I actually enjoyed reading were thrillers and the mysteries. I decided to try my hand at that.
What I didn't like about thrillers was the breathless tone they all had, where you couldn't have any fun or do anything but speak in a whisper and be very, very serious. I thought it would be fun to write one where it actually HURT when people got hurt. And from a little more first-person point of view. Thriller characters seem to never experience anything except pain and sex.
As for the DC setting, I worked for the National Endowment for the Arts in late 1994. It was a fun and smart place to work and I enjoyed it. But I have to say I didn't love how everything turned political in DC. You went to a punk rock show and somehow it immediately became about politics. I chased a girl there but she didn't chase me back, so I left after a while. But I always thought it would be fun to write about.
I actually wrote most of The Intern a long time back. But completing my second novel, Sabotage, made me dust it off and realize it could be fun. So here we are.
What I didn't like about thrillers was the breathless tone they all had, where you couldn't have any fun or do anything but speak in a whisper and be very, very serious. I thought it would be fun to write one where it actually HURT when people got hurt. And from a little more first-person point of view. Thriller characters seem to never experience anything except pain and sex.
As for the DC setting, I worked for the National Endowment for the Arts in late 1994. It was a fun and smart place to work and I enjoyed it. But I have to say I didn't love how everything turned political in DC. You went to a punk rock show and somehow it immediately became about politics. I chased a girl there but she didn't chase me back, so I left after a while. But I always thought it would be fun to write about.
I actually wrote most of The Intern a long time back. But completing my second novel, Sabotage, made me dust it off and realize it could be fun. So here we are.
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